My last posts were mostly about statistics, and here is another one. I promise it will be the last for the 2025 reading. It is a different approach to choose your favourite book of the year. Some year ago I followed a youtube blogger; Books with Emily Fox who had an interesting approach for choosing the best book read in 2022. I saw that another book blogger, The Plant Based Bride who does a similar exercise. What you do is to write down all the books your have read, or like me, use a random number generator, put the slips in a jar and randomly draw the book titles. Arrange them two by two, and choose the best book of the two. It sometimes mean that you have to choose between two favourite books, maybe early on. The books that ‘won’ you let go for another round, until you come down to two books. My best book for 2025 I did this with the 120 books I read last year. At one time I ended up with an uneven number so choose a book from the rejected ones to even out the numbers. I think it worked out rather well. The last four books were: Tunnel 29 by Helena Merriman Trust by Hernan Diaz The Dutch House by Ann Patchett Tychonium, Experimentet by Jan Johannesson Of which Tunnel 29 and Trust went on for the final choice. I chose the best book to be: Tunnel 29 by Helena Merriman “He’s just escaped from one of the world’s most brutal regimes.Now, he decides to tunnel back in.It’s summer, 1962, and Joachim Rudolph, a student, is digging a tunnel under the Berlin Wall. Waiting on the other side in East Berlin - dozens of men, women and children; all willing to risk everything to escape.From the award-winning creator of the acclaimed BBC Radio 4 podcast, Tunnel 29 is the true story of the most remarkable escape tunnel dug under the Berlin Wall. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews with the survivors, and thousands of pages of Stasi documents, Helena Merriman brilliantly reveals the stranger-than-fiction story of the ingenious group of student-diggers, the glamorous red-haired messenger, the American News network which films the escape, and the Stasi spy who betrays it. For what Joachim doesn’t know as he burrows closer to East Germany, is that the escape operation has been infiltrated. As the escapees prepare to crawl through the cold, wet darkness, above them, the Stasi are closing in.Tunnel 29 is about what happens when people lose their freedom - and how some will do anything to win it back.” If I had chosen myself? Where would I end up if I had chosen myself? I have chosen seven of my favourites. Tunnel 29 by Helen Merriman The Dutch House by Ann Patchett Shooting Butterflies by Marika Cobbold Trust by Hernan Diaz All for Nothing (Alles Umsonst) by Walter Kempowski The Night Travellers by Armando Lucas Correa Tychonium by Jan Johannesson As you see, all the four books that ended up in the battle of books, are also on my personal list. I had to let go of number 3, 5 and 6 during the battle. What about you? Have you done a similar exercise to choose your best read for a year? Please let me know.

I guess you can add as many statistics as your fantasy reaches. I have read many of your statistics and most are amazing in their details. Not so much here, but I wanted to add a few more interesting takes on my reading. New to me authors and the countries they are from I have never looked att new authors that I have read earlier, so I have nothing to compare it to. Of the 120 books read, I have read 62 authors for the first time. They represent 15 countries. I can imagine that is rather a lot of new authors. Please correct me if I am wrong. Swedish - 21 Erik Eriksson - Tina Frennstedt - Birgit Th. Sparre - Marit Furn - Tony Samuelsson - Sara Önnebo - Joakim Zander - Johannes Anyuru - Birgitta Petrén - Marika Cobbold - Andreas Marklund - Annelie Sylvan - Helena Kubicek Boye - Mikael Parkvall - Frida Skybäck - Bo Ericsson - Erik Petersson - Katarina Harrison Lindberg - Anders Sundkvist - Kerstin Berman - Stig Wallerman - Per Nygren American   - 13 Hernan Diaz (Argentine) - Mary Kubica - J.T. Ellison - Gertrude Stein - Andrew Turnbull - Diane Gaston - V.E. Schwab - Ann Patchett - Eleanor Herman - Karleen Koen - Shirley Jackson - James Baldwin - Riley Sager United Kingdom - 10 Daniel Hurst - Meriel Schindler - Saskia Walker - Stephen Clarke - Nancy Mitford - Helena Merriman - Jonathan Buckley - Ian McEwan - Tamara Talbot Rice (Russian) - Rafael Sabatini (Italian) Australia - 2 John Baxter - Geraldine Brooks (US) And one each from the following countries - 11 Simone St. James, Canada / Walter Kempowski, Germany / Sicho Matsumoto, Japan / László Krasznahorkai, Hungary / Mariléna Karabatéa, Greece / Tove Jansson, Finland / Han Kang, South Korea / Shahnaz Habib, India / Paul Verlaine, France / Irène Némirovsky, Ukarine / Paride Rombi, Italy For 2026 I would like to read more authors from countries I usually don’t read from. I have a list of the countries of the world, and so far I have filled in 27 countries och the 195 on the list. Far too few. I will make an effort to read authors from less read countries this year. What about you? Are you varying your reading to cover countries all over the world?

Thanks to Brona @ This Reading Life I am joining Book'd Out for reading nonfiction in 2026. You find the rules under the link, but here are a few of them. HOW IT WORKS You can select, read and review a book from the categories listed below during the year for a total of up to 12 books; OR select, read and review any nonfiction book. A book may be in print, electronic or audio format. Choose a goal: Nonfiction Nipper: Read & review 3 books, from any 3 listed categories Nonfiction Nibbler: Read & review 6 books, from any 6 listed categories Nonfiction Nosher: Read & review 12 books, one for each category Nonfiction Grazer: Read & review any nonfiction book. Set your own goal, or none at all, just share the nonfiction you read through the year. Categories: History Memoir/Biography True Crime Science Health Food South East Asia Humour (Humor) Lost or found Television Subculture Published in 2026 * You can choose your books as you go or create a list in advance. You may combine this challenge with others if you wish. Use your best good faith judgement as to whether a book fits the category or not. * Where a book is identified by more than one category, it may only count for one, not both. * You can read your chosen titles in any order, at any pace, just aim to complete the challenge by December 31st 2026 I will read other nonfiction so I will settle for Nonfiction Nipper:  Read & review 3 books, from any 3 listed categories. History is my most favourite category so that is a given, thinking of all the nonfiction I have on my shelves. I also have a few Biographies , and I could choose from Edward Burne-Jones - A Life by Penelope Fitzgerald; Gabriele d'Annunzio by Lucy Hughes-Hallett; Edith Wharton by Hermione Lee among others. For Science or Health I would go for Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe. All books on my shelves far too long. Nonfiction Grazer:  Read & review any nonfiction book. Set your own goal, or none at all, just share the nonfiction you read through the year. I am planning to read more nonfiction this year so will add them as they come. There will be many nonfiction books considering my 2026 Personal Curriculum . Both Literature and History will generate nonfiction reading. Are you on for a Nonfiction year?

My blog is about books and reading, reviews and discussions on anything bookish. Under this label you find some information about myself. My Story I am Lisbeth Ekelof, an expat Swede, who returned to Sweden in 2018. My expat years were very interesting, enjoying life in different countries and cultures, including a lot of adventures. Always interested in reading, I started my blog at the end of 2012, just before early retirement. It has been a wonderful journey, exchanging views on books and reading with the international blogging community. I published my first post on 24 October 2012. I love your comments and try to answer all of them. I do accept reviewing books on demand, depending on my time schedule. Please use contact form to get in touch. “Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.” Virginia Woolf

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